


Come Undone

by cordeliadelayne



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Getting Together, Light Angst, M/M, Resurrection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-07-29 20:32:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7698424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cordeliadelayne/pseuds/cordeliadelayne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel finds Gabriel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Come Undone

**Author's Note:**

> Set after 5.19. Originally posted to Livejournal in 2010.

On the day that the first Archangel in the history of the universe died, Castiel was recovering from his own war wounds in a small park in Idaho. He thought at first that it was the crack of his own Grace he could hear, the painful stabbing in his chest intensifying until his wings unfurled themselves of their own accord and every window in a five mile radius exploded inwards.

Then he knew with the certainty of one of Gabriel's own hand delivered messages, that his brother was gone. Wiped from existence.

He didn't know how, he couldn't sense that much, but Castiel knew that there were very few ways for an Archangel to be killed, especially one as adept at subterfuge as Gabriel. He wasn't fully healed, far from it, but he needed to know what had happened.

He pulled the phone from his pocket and called Sam.

“Where are you?” he asked, no preamble, once Sam answered.

“Cas?” Sam asked. “Are you okay? What -"

“Where. Are. You?” Cas asked again, annoyance lacing his words.

“Bobby's. We're at - “

Sam trailed off as the fluttering of wings announced Castiel's presence behind him.

“Whoa!” Dean said, rushing from the kitchen. “Cas – you okay?”

Castiel eyed Dean carefully – there was no trace of Michael to be found, nor the doubt that had been plaguing the elder Winchester. Castiel let himself relax marginally.

“What happened to Gabriel?”

Dean flinched and Sam looked downcast.

“You know about that?” Dean asked.

“Every angel in creation felt it when he...” He paused and looked down at the ground, his emotions bubbling at the surface of his Grace. “How did he...?”

“He saved our lives,” Sam said, taking a few hesitant steps forward. “Lucifer had us trapped, but Gabriel stepped up. He did the right thing, Cas.”

“And Lucifer killed him?” Castiel asked.

“Yeah,” Dean said. “Cas, I'm sorry. He might have been a douchebag, but he pulled through in the end.”

“ _Dean,_ ” Sam hissed, shaking his head. Dean made a “what?” face and rolled his eyes.

Castiel felt himself smiling brokenly. Impossible for the Winchesters to understand the bond between angels. How much it hurt to lose one; he felt each death like a stab to his own heart, including those of his brothers and sisters that he destroyed himself.

“I see,” Castiel said slowly. He turned towards the kitchen table and sank down into one of the chairs there. Of course there were many more problems to be faced than the loss of one of his brothers, but Gabriel was, _had_ , been so much more than that, once.

“Cas, you okay?” Dean asked.

Castiel nodded, slowly. He could never explain to the Winchesters. Even after all they had seen and done, they would never understand. “I'm fine, Dean. And I believe we have work to do.”

Dean nodded and Sam sat down at the table next to him.

“You got a plan? 'cause we're fresh out.”

“I believe there may well may be a way to defeat Lucifer once and for all. But it will be extremely dangerous.”

Dean snorted. “Yeah, well, dangerous is my middle name.”

* * * * * *

Castiel flexed his wings and closed his eyes. His Grace thrummed throughout his body, his true self and his vessel. He could feel every atom of his being revitalised, made fresh, blessed by his Father. It was the most glorious feeling and for the moment he was happy just to bask in it. He wasn't needed anywhere right now and his family's squabbles were becoming tedious.

Lucifer and Michael were trapped together in Hell. Dean Winchester was alive and able to live the life he'd always wanted. Sam Winchester was...well, Castiel wasn't exactly sure what Sam was but he was out there too, a fleeting presence to Castiel's senses. And he, Castiel, was now an Archangel.

He shivered at a barely perceived draft and opened his eyes. He was standing on top of Mount Everest, a light covering of snow dusting his wings. It was quiet here, peaceful. So unlike Heaven. His new position meant new responsibilities, but when everyone in Heaven still thought of him as either a traitor or the murderer of their brothers and sisters, it was very difficult to actually get anything done.

He didn't even know if this is what his Father wanted. If this is why Castiel had been restored, again.

Castiel kicked softly at the ground and a low rumble echoed throughout the region. His Father was still missing and no one seemed interested in trying to find him. And a small part of Castiel still cared, still cared deeply about his Father.

But it was growing smaller every day.

The part of him that still missed Gabriel though, that was as strong as ever.

** * * *

Castiel was sitting inside a diner, eating pancakes. He had even less reason to want to do this now that he was an Archangel but there was a familiarity to it that reminded him of Dean and Sam. He missed their companionship but he knew that it was best if he stayed away from them. Dean had a new life now and Sam was on his own mission; he wouldn’t want Castiel's interference.

He was just finishing up when he felt an angel's presence nearby. Alarmed, he looked with all his senses but the feeling was gone. It was possible he had imagined it, but Castiel had learned the hard way to trust his instincts.

There was an angel nearby and he was determined to find them.

He threw some money down onto the table and then calmly walked out of the diner, nodding towards the waitress as he left. There was no need to create a stir.

He stepped onto the sidewalk and looked around. He was about to move off when he felt it again, a faint pulse of a damaged Grace. It seemed to be coming from the hotel across the street.

Castiel stepped forward and in the blink of an eye he was on the third floor of the hotel. The floors were dirty, a scuffed green colour that was offset by the blue walls, a colour combination that Castiel found strangely soothing.

He followed the feel of the strange Grace until he was outside Room 413. He pushed his own Grace through, wanting to surreptitiously sense as much as he could, but he was immediately blocked. Tentatively he put his hand against the door and just as quickly it vanished. He took a startled step back and looked to his left and then his right. Now the corridor ran 412 to 414 with no sign that there had ever been a 413. Curious, but not willing to explore too much that day, he left.

* * * * *

He didn't go far. He went to a nearby coffee shop and ordered a drink - “dark, no milk, lots of sugar” and sipped it as he stared at the hotel. He knew that for an angel there would be no reason for them to leave through the front door, but there was also no reason for an angel to be hiding out in a hotel either, so he was fairly confident that they would appear, at some point.

Two days later he was rewarded by another familiar pull at his Grace. He let his eyes fall shut as he took in the reassuring presence of one of his siblings, before he looked out to see a woman shuffling across the road. She was blonde, with dishevelled hair tied loosely behind her, a dark jacket pulled about her thin frame. She looked ill, or homeless and Castiel almost dismissed her, if it wasn't for something about the way she was standing that seemed familiar to him. He put down his coffee and watched. He must have been staring too hard though, because the next moment the woman looked up at him and her eyes widened just a fraction, before she turned and hurried away.

Castiel stood up immediately and went to follow. The woman turned down an alleyway and Castiel hurried after her, only to find the alley empty of all but strewn rubbish by the time he got there.

Disappointed, he was about to turn around and retrace his steps when he was suddenly hit from behind. Momentarily stunned he moved to block the next blow, the bone in his right arm cracking as it was struck, and then he kicked out at his assailant, landing an awkward blow to their knee, which did nothing to stop them. Instead they kept on coming, hitting him across the chest, hard enough to wind him, if nothing else.

Opting for the element of surprise he fell to his knees and pushed, hard. His assailant cracked into the wall behind him, the foundations of the building shaking from the blow. Castiel looked up to see the woman he'd followed, her expression startled before she broke into a laugh.

“You've gotten better at that. Finally learnt some life lessons, huh, bro?”

“I've - “ Castiel paused. “ _Gabriel?_ ”

The woman's face morphed into a grin that sent delicious shivers up Castiel's spine.

“One and only.”

“But, how – you – why did you attack me?”

“Had to be sure,” Gabriel said with a shrug.

“Sure of what? Lucifer is gone.”

“Yeah,” Gabriel looked down at the ground for a moment before looking Castiel properly in the eye for the first time. It was somewhat disconcerting; Castiel realised he had grown quite fond of Gabriel's previous, male, form. “I hear you had more than a little to do with that.”

Castiel nodded briefly. “It was mainly Dean and Sam though.”

“Those Winchesters sure know how to throw a party.”

They regarded each other in silence, Castiel still kneeling down, his whole body rigid with uncertainty. It definitely felt like Gabriel but it was almost too impossible to believe that their Father would have brought him back too.

“What? You think you’re the only one the Old Man loves?” Gabriel asked finally, a hint of annoyance underlying his words. Castiel flushed guilty.

“Of course not. Father loves all his children.”

Gabriel snorted. “If you say so.”

“Are you – are you well?”

Gabriel laughed, a soft tinkling sound that was so unlike the Gabriel Castiel had thought he knew that it shocked him into standing up and pulling away slightly.

“Our brother killed me. Do you have any idea what that's like?”

Castiel stared at him steadily. “At least you were only stabbed, not blown to pieces.”

“Touche.” Gabriel looked around the alleyway and wrinkled his nose. “Do you want to go, get a drink or something?”

Castiel's heart leaped but he did a very good job of keeping his emotions from showing on his face. “That would be good.”

Gabriel smiled. “Okay, let me just,” and with a wave of his hand and a shake of his head he was looking exactly as he had before. Castiel immediately found himself relaxing.

Gabriel's smile widened. “Miss me?” he asked, moving closer to Castiel and boxing him up against the wall.

“Of course,” Castiel replied. His honesty seemed to surprise Gabriel but before Castiel could think why, Gabriel was kissing him, tongue pushing forcefully inside his mouth, body pressing up against him. Precious seconds passed as Castiel's brain short circuited, and then, just as Gabriel was about to pull away, Castiel grabbed at both his arms and kept him in place. He returned the smile that he could feel Gabriel make against his lips and deepened the kiss.

He may, long ago, have wondered what it would be like to do this. To feel as a human did the flesh of another. To _want._ It was a desire he'd tried to keep contained whenever he'd been around Gabriel, wary of how the other, so worldly and experienced, might judge him.

But as the flutter of wings filled the air and Castiel found himself pushed down against a soft bed, clothes ripped from him, he realised that judgement was the last thing on Gabriel's mind.

Or his own.


End file.
